Atalaya Mining Copper, S.A.'s (LON:ATYM) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 6.2% over last week

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Atalaya Mining Copper's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• 53% of the business is held by the top 5 shareholders
• Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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If you want to know who really controls Atalaya Mining Copper, S.A. (LON:ATYM), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Last week’s 6.2% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 41%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Atalaya Mining Copper.

Check out our latest analysis for Atalaya Mining Copper

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Atalaya Mining Copper?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Atalaya Mining Copper does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Atalaya Mining Copper's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Atalaya Mining Copper. Our data shows that Farringford Foundation is the largest shareholder with 22% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 15% and 6.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. Furthermore, CEO Alberto Lavandeira Adan is the owner of 0.6% of the company's shares.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 5 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Atalaya Mining Copper

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Atalaya Mining Copper, S.A.. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. It seems the board members have no more than UK£5.4m worth of shares in the UK£673m company. We generally like to see a board more invested. However it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 27% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Atalaya Mining Copper. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 28%, of the company's shares. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Atalaya Mining Copper better, we need to consider many other factors.

Many find it useful to take an in depth look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.